Just off Empress- never again!

[lr657]

There have been incidents on every ship I have ever been on that someone had a toilet that did not work and maintenance needed to be called....or a problem with outlets, or the door key became de-magnified or a balcony door that would not stay closed or a window that seems to be broken because it appeared as if the seal was malfunctioning and moisture was between the panes of glass and the list could go on and on .....and it isn't what anyone wants...and pricing has nothing to do with it. These things shouldn't happen ever, but they do.

 

Problems with bar staff and kitchen staff and kitchen preparedness and wait staff.....are all things that have happened as well...and those can be lived with, even if they are disappointments.....they don't fit into the same category as some of those previously mentioned. Brunch service not working out as expected is a problem and better training should have happened.

 

This is really getting ridiculous! Are you not understanding that everyone was not experiencing one small problem, but were having to deal with multiple constant issues all day long without much resolution!

 

 

I have a feeling if you were on the ship and had to deal with 5 days in an extremely hot cabin without any air conditioning, no hot or no cold water, non-working toilets, sewage odors, lack of certain food items, and long waits for everything you would not be telling us that this happens at times and we should have been "mentally prepared"

 

Just so you know, I did not request or receive any compensation.

Edited June 6, 2016 by lr657

[TravlGrl]

Unbelievable. Maybe the defenders should have been on this cruise. It's crazy. The people who put up with the cruise, I'm amazed. I probably would have lost it.

I STILL feel like I'm losing it when I read some of the idiotic statements here, as if to say we should just "buck up and deal with it". Really? There's no way I believe any of these RCCL defenders, had they also been on Empress, would just shrug off basic human necessities that didn't exist AS WELL AS features that we were sold that were not delivered.

 

Amazing how easy it is for people to judge who weren't even there.

 

Sent from my SM-G920T using Tapatalk

[kruzerci]

This is really getting ridiculous! Are you not understanding that everyone was not experiencing one small problem, but were having to deal with multiple constant issues all day long without much resolution!

 

 

 

I have a feeling if you were on the ship and had to deal with 5 days in an extremely hot cabin without any air conditioning, no hot or no cold water, non-working toilets, sewage odors, lack of certain food items, and long waits for everything you would not be telling us that this happens at times and we should have been "mentally prepared"

 

 

In one word, no. The senseless babbling is nothing new.

 

I started ignoring it a long time ago, but some of these bizarre posts get the best of me and draw me back in.

 

This ship shouldn't have sailed and since it did, there should be some major and uniform compensation. End of story. Not much arguing it. It's just mind boggling to me that somebody should be "mentally prepared" for a vacation.

[Paul65]

I think there is really only one defender, perpetual positive poster, who wasn't onboard.

 

Agreed. There can be one person who seems to be a passionate defender, and people start focusing on it, and talking about it so much, that this one view is amplified, and I think they actually convince themselves that it is more rampant that it really is. (Although, in this case, I don't think the one person who seems to be getting several others riled up was all that passionate in her defense.)

Edited June 6, 2016 by Paul65

[foxgoodrich]

I was not on your cruise. I am D+ so I've sailed Royal quite a bit. We've had problems and wrinkles here and there on many of our RC cruises, but none have been as egregious as what you have experienced, and all were remedied nicely. The seem really small and insignificant compared to what you had to deal with.

 

I understand that when all of you booked this cruise, you were NOT expecting to be on the first cruise out of dry dock. (Many of you probably actually timed your booking to avoid that very first cruise.) And some of you were first time cruisers looking for a fun new experience on a newly renovated small ship. Then the date of that first cruise changed, more than once, to make you the first cruise out of dry dock.

 

Okay, I think if this had happened to me I would have had fairly high expectations for a great time on this renovated ship. A bunch of cruises were cancelled. The dry dock was extended, the galleys were totally gutted and completely newly outfitted. Seems to me there was a lot of time to refurbish everything on the ship and make it top notch, adhering to the Royal Caribbean standard. Then I learn my cruise is the first one, but that's okay, right? The extra time in dry dock, I would have thought, would insure that everything was tiptop and working.

 

Although I've been pretty much loyal to Royal (and truly, when you get to the D+ level, it's hard not to come back since the perks are so nice) had I been on your cruise and dealt with the problems you've had, it would truly upset me. The plumbing problems, the lack of AC, the lack of sufficient food in the Windjammer, the MDR issues with slow service and poorly prepared food, the long lines, the non-existent events/amenites listed in the Compass, the D and D+ stuff that wasn't delivered, etc. etc. would have pretty much pissed me off to the max.

 

All I can say is...thanks for sharing your experience. And I'm so sorry you had to go through this, especially if you were first time cruisers. I don't think I, personally, would have had the patience and good attitude most of you had on this cruise. All I can say is that I sincerely hope your next cruise is a WHOLE LOT better. My hat's off to you!:)

Judy

Edited June 6, 2016 by foxgoodrich

[John Reid]

There have been incidents on every ship I have ever been on that someone had a toilet that did not work and maintenance needed to be called....or a problem with outlets, or the door key became de-magnified or a balcony door that would not stay closed or a window that seems to be broken because it appeared as if the seal was malfunctioning and moisture was between the panes of glass and the list could go on and on .....and it isn't what anyone wants...and pricing has nothing to do with it. These things shouldn't happen ever, but they do.

 

Problems with bar staff and kitchen staff and kitchen preparedness and wait staff.....are all things that have happened as well...and those can be lived with, even if they are disappointments.....they don't fit into the same category as some of those previously mentioned. Brunch service not working out as expected is a problem and better training should have happened.

 

These aren't the droids you're looking for.

[A2Mich]

Yes, Britannic was only in service about a year and a half before being sunk. I do not think she ever got to serve as a passenger ship; military requisition the entire time.

 

Oddly enough, Britannic also had some safety modifications made during her construction after the Titanic disaster in order to make her safer. Britannic sank faster than Titanic did....Maybe someone else here knows, but some of the wooden paneling from the Olympic made its way onto, I believe, a Celebrity ship - Millenium maybe?

[bigboffs]

In 1915, during WW1. the Britannia sank after hitting a mlne that blew a big hole in her underwater bow.

[Merion_Mom]

Harmony's first sailing: 50% FCC

 

Harmony's second sailing: 25% FCC

 

Just sayin'

[Citymom92]

Harmony's first sailing: 50% FCC

 

Harmony's second sailing: 25% FCC

 

Just sayin'

 

Can you translate the numbers above? I don't know what FCC stands for.

Thanks!

[Clarea]

Can you translate the numbers above? I don't know what FCC stands for.

Thanks!

Future cruise credit.

[Citymom92]

Future cruise credit.

 

Aha! thanks-

[loubetti]

In 1915, during WW1. the Britannia sank after hitting a mlne that blew a big hole in her underwater bow.

 

That would be "Britannic" of White Star Line, sister ship to Olympic and Titanic. ;)

[stormynow]

Oddly enough, Britannic also had some safety modifications made during her construction after the Titanic disaster in order to make her safer. Britannic sank faster than Titanic did....Maybe someone else here knows, but some of the wooden paneling from the Olympic made its way onto, I believe, a Celebrity ship - Millenium maybe?

 

Believe in the Ocean Liner's DR on the Constellation.

[Thetrail]

There have been incidents on every ship I have ever been on that someone had a toilet that did not work and maintenance needed to be called....or a problem with outlets, or the door key became de-magnified or a balcony door that would not stay closed or a window that seems to be broken because it appeared as if the seal was malfunctioning and moisture was between the panes of glass and the list could go on and on .....and it isn't what anyone wants...and pricing has nothing to do with it. These things shouldn't happen ever, but they do.

 

Problems with bar staff and kitchen staff and kitchen preparedness and wait staff.....are all things that have happened as well...and those can be lived with, even if they are disappointments.....they don't fit into the same category as some of those previously mentioned. Brunch service not working out as expected is a problem and better training should have happened.

And I have been on many cruises where everything was just perfect and close to perfection.....K.O.

[TravlGrl]

I was not on your cruise. I am D+ so I've sailed Royal quite a bit. We've had problems and wrinkles here and there on many of our RC cruises, but none have been as egregious as what you have experienced, and all were remedied nicely. The seem really small and insignificant compared to what you had to deal with.

 

I understand that when all of you booked this cruise, you were NOT expecting to be on the first cruise out of dry dock. (Many of you probably actually timed your booking to avoid that very first cruise.) And some of you were first time cruisers looking for a fun new experience on a newly renovated small ship. Then the date of that first cruise changed, more than once, to make you the first cruise out of dry dock.

 

Okay, I think if this had happened to me I would have had fairly high expectations for a great time on this renovated ship. A bunch of cruises were cancelled. The dry dock was extended, the galleys were totally gutted and completely newly outfitted. Seems to me there was a lot of time to refurbish everything on the ship and make it top notch, adhering to the Royal Caribbean standard. Then I learn my cruise is the first one, but that's okay, right? The extra time in dry dock, I would have thought, would insure that everything was tiptop and working.

 

Although I've been pretty much loyal to Royal (and truly, when you get to the D+ level, it's hard not to come back since the perks are so nice) had I been on your cruise and dealt with the problems you've had, it would truly upset me. The plumbing problems, the lack of AC, the lack of sufficient food in the Windjammer, the MDR issues with slow service and poorly prepared food, the long lines, the non-existent events/amenites listed in the Compass, the D and D+ stuff that wasn't delivered, etc. etc. would have pretty much pissed me off to the max.

 

All I can say is...thanks for sharing your experience. And I'm so sorry you had to go through this, especially if you were first time cruisers. I don't think I, personally, would have had the patience and good attitude most of you had on this cruise. All I can say is that I sincerely hope your next cruise is a WHOLE LOT better. My hat's off to you!:)

Judy

Thank you, Judy! May all future cruisers of Empress NOT experience anything close to what we did! :)

[A2Mich]

Believe in the Ocean Liner's DR on the Constellation.

 

 

Thank you. I did a bit of research, and it turns out that some of the Olympic's paneling was purchased and used in the RMS Olympic restaurant aboard the Millenium. At least, according to Wikipedia, FWIW. But thank you, though!

[Mikew0805]

Quite correct, only the earliest class of RCCL ships, like Song of Norway were stretched

 

As to Empress; she's still larger than Titanic, and carries less people than the former did! For many, she can still be a very agreeable ship to sail on.

 

For me, I'd take 48,000 tons any day of the week, even much less. Just watch how many you try to stuff on board. :D

 

Enchantment was also stretched.